Goth Champion

Just as I'd finished with my Dark Age Welsh for the 1066 & All That collection and my additions of three bands of Gothalikes to my Late Roman collections were fading into distant, hazy memory I received yet another unexpected and kind gift from Aly in the post. It was the free figure accompanying the Once & Future King supplement for Hail Caesar from Warlord Games. He's obviously a post-Roman Briton by dress and is labelled as Agravain, a knight of Arthur's fabled Round Table! Right up my street to be repurposed as a Gothalike champion then! While waiting for the paint/varnish/glue to harden on the last of the Welsh warriors I sploshed colours on him as and when I could and, almost magically, he was finished ~

He won't see any action here in GHQ as it is currently fulfilling the role of a storeroom for kitchen bits old and new while the second stage of refurbishment is completed by Geoff and his team from Bonds of Brewood - a highly recommended company if you are in my area. Meanwhile, more ACW figures are passing under the brush as and when the opportunity arises. More on them in due courseI am able to update you.

Gornalus in Campo Martis occurrit

Towards the end of last month Paul and I met up in GHQ for our {mostly} regular monthly game. This time a Late Roman battle between Gornalus and Pompus Minimaximus using Hail Caesar Mk2 as the rules was our choice. A brief blow by blow account here accompanies a selection of photos taken by Paul and yours truly in the format of occasional added notes. I hope you will all enjoy seeing the collection in action ~

The army of the rightful Emperor, Pompus Primus Minimaximus,  drawn up for the coming battle.

The  ragtag rabble of infantry serving the rebellious Gornalus Taphicus awaits it's destruction with ever diminishing enthusiasm.

A closer look at Pompus Minimaximus' leading Legion...

...and of that of the rabble raised by the rebel General, Gornalus Taphicus, leading from the safety of the rear!

Gornalus has massed his cavalry  on his left flank.

The Light Cavalry leading the way, supported by their heavier brethren.

Similarly Pompus Minimaximus has deployed his cavalry on his right.

The Goths in the pay of Gornalus are placed on his right flank.

They rush forward boldly but are halted unexpectedly by the advancing Legion whose long spears deter the Goth Light Infantry. 

The Goth warbands surge forward through the retiring Light Infantry but are soundly beaten by their Legionary opponents. Gornalus' right flank is in disarray!

In the centre the two divisions of Legionary heavy and medium troops close with each other. First blood here falls to Gornalus' men.

Buoyed by the victory of his Legion Gornalus Taphicus leads his remaining units in the centre forward to exploit the success.

The mass of infantry swirl back and forth as the battle engulfs first one then another unit in quick succession.

On Pompus' right his cavalry wing sweep forward screened by the light woods and burst out on Gornalus' static cavalry!

In haste Gornalus throws the Moors forward to halt the developing assault while hurrying to bring his heavier horse into action.

The heavies of both armies are soon engaged in fierce combat. No quarter is asked or given here!

Victory favours the horsemen of Pompus Minimaximus as they sweep those of Gornalus from the field.

Though not without some losses of their own to take the shine off their victory.

In the centre Gornalus has some encouragement  as one of Pompus' Auxilliay infantry units is destroyed...

...and a second Legion is driven from the field in disarray. 

But Pompus Minimaximus has ample men in reserve and Gornslus' brief sight of victory is snuffed out!

The victorious army's shouts of triumph resound across this Field of Mars!

Escorted by his Bucallarii Pompus Minimaximus rightfully receives the adulation of his troops! He is one step closer to wresting the Imperial Purple from the usurper Baldinus.

As ever in our experience Hail Caesar delivered a splendidly tense battle with fortunes ebbing and flowing across the battlefield until suddenly Paul found Gornalus' army Broken by mounting losses! If only his cavalry had enjoyed more dice fortune the outcome might have been so very different. If only...truly that cry is every wargamer's constant lament!

There will be a brief hiatus in activity across the tabletop battlefield here in GHQ over the next two weeks or so. Phil is away with his family for some well earned R&R and we are enjoying more kitchen refurbishment from Tuesday next. I do however hope to have things to share with you, so don't stray too far. Finally, if you see the new issue of WSS in the shops you might wish to buy a copy and enjoy seeing many photos of my Wars of the French Revolution collection illustrating a number of articles on Napoleon's early campaigns.

Hairy Barbarians

The next figures which endured their time under the brush here in GHQ are for my Late Roman collection. I hope that you may recall that the figures making up the two armies are from the venerable Wargames Foundry range, sculpted by the Perry twins almost it would seem back in the mists of time! They are from the various packs of Saxons/Franks in the range, but I see them as Goths in the army of Baldinus or Gornalus. There are three bases of eight figures each which complete this addition ~

The shield transfers are from LBMS, via Victrix, so I had the added task of punching out the holes for the shield bosses! Thankfully some figures don't have a shield added! A more pressing issue is that the transfers, despite being 'designed to fit', some are way too small for the metal shields. The shields themselves are difficult too as not every boss is central, which can make some designs difficult to utilize and blend in. I can't see any excuse for such a discrepancy, other than perhaps incompetence or indolence! The base is from Warbases of course and are always in my experience the size they say it is!

Painting progress though has been pretty lethargic this past month here in GHQ with only 52 figures completed, due to all sorts of factors like a holiday, two wargames shows, and kitchen upgrade stuff! I'm not sure what will be next up from the Lead Pimple. Some Dixon Miniatures ACW Pennsylvania Bucktails are currently prepped ready for painting while the 151st Pennsylvania Infantry are ready to spray undercoat, as are some Footsore Dark Age Welsh which were sculpted by Matt. I've utilised this spell of fine Spring weather for prepping and spray undercoating figures to give me some choice and variety I the coming weeks. Beyond these we shall have to see where the muse takes us...

A Late Roman Frippery

When I received the last pieces of my order from Footsore Miniatures last month for Matt's Dark Age Welsh I also found two complementary figures were included, as there had been some mix up over the shields included. I gave Phil the one warrior figure as it fitted nicely with his Romano-Britons and I kept the female civilian for myself as I had an idea for a small vignette to liven up the tabletop battlefield! While plodding on with the French Garde Voltiguers for my Crimean War project I have also been working on the two figures for this vignette ~

The female figure is from their Gangs of Rome range and depicts a fishwife while the bored looking sentry was left over from my latest Late Roman Legion and is a venerable Wargames Foundry figure. The two figures seem to compliment each other nicely in both size and style to my eye. The sentry's shield transfers is from LBMS, you might remember them! The small base is from Warbases as ever. While it won't win any prizes I'm quietly pleased with how it looks on the tabletop battlefield, and as an added bonus it has reduced the Lead Pimple by two figures!!!!

The Late(st) Romans

I've recently completed the last Roman unit for my Late Roman refurbishment project, all the venerable Perry sculpts from Wargames Foundry, some via Colonel Bill's (before he ditched shows!) and the rest from Foundry at The Other Partizan ~

The shield transfers are from the now defunct LBMS though they may one day be available again (come on Victrix, get your act together) and the bases from the ever reliable stalwarts at Warbases ~

I have several Saxon/Goth infantry still to do which will add two more unit bases to the army of Baldinus the Usurper or Gornalus. Without shield transfers being available - see previous moans above - they will languish in the Lead Pimple for now.

Instead I've started on some Garde Voltiguers for the Crimean War project, figures from Great War Miniatures via North Star of course. I must say that the larger and bolder sculpting is much more gentle on the old eyes and hand! More on these I'd hope in due course.

Tempting Fate?

It seems that I spoke too soon when I settled on the title of the first blog entry of the new year! I have been struck by a serious bout of "There's a lot of it about"! The result is four days pretty much spent asleep in bed feeling like, well, you know I'm sure... Although I feel a little better there's not much prospect of any hobby activity in the coming week for any number of reasons combining with health. Luckily I finished these the last of my Late Roman cavalry additions right at the end of last year ~

Two bases of Late Roman Heavy Cavalry first of all. As you'd surely expect they are from Wargames Foundry's venerable range, with a mixture of shield transfers from the now defunct LBMS - I believe Victrix intend to sell the shield transfers for other manufacturers' ranges, though if/when they do then I fully expect to be ripped off by a price increase. Call me a cynic if you like, but there you go. Bases are from Warbases as usual ~

As ever I was wont not to waste the odd figure remaining in the Lead Pimple, so I've mounted him on a base as a single figure. He can be either a commander of a Division in Hail Caesar or a Champion if we give Mudgard a run out with my Late Romans.

I need to lie down now after the effort of typing the entry. More hopefully in a day or three when I feel more human.

More Late Romans

As an antidote to all the Christmas malarkey ~

In amongst the inevitably busy run up to Christmas I managed to find some time to complete the painting of the latest addition to my Late Roman collection in the shape of another Legion for Pompus Minimaximus' army. As you'd expect they are the Perry sculpted figures from Wargames Foundry's venerable range. The shield transfers are from LBMS as was, now Victrix I understand, and the bases from Warbases as usual ~

With the newer additional elements, as with the rebasing of the rump collection, I tried to give the main base elements an obvious command figure and where possible a Vexillia or Draco. This enables them to serve as individual units in a game where necessary. This should be particularly useful if we extend the use of Midgard into this collection occasionally in a more Arthurian setting ~

Just before the festive season overtook GHQ the whole collection had it's last run out of 2024 when Phil came over for our weekly game. No blow by blow account this time, just a few in game pictures which I'd like you to think of as a kind of belated Christmas present from GHQ ~

The army of Pompus Minimaximus, the rightful Emperor.

The army of Baldinus the Usurper!

Things not going well for Pompus Minimaximus' cavalry Division.

Not on the other flank either, his Heavy Cavalry failing to defeat some Light Infantry and throwing two 1's in the Break Test!

Some success against Baldinus' Medium Infantry, but it didn't last...

Two Broken Divisions leading to the defeat of Pompus Minimaximus who escapes with his life...just!

Finally, if you are not a subscriber to the leading hobby publication {which is of course the excellent Wargames Illustrated} then do rush out and buy the new January addition where over five pages you will find my latest contribution in a piece on my Crimean War project. As a bonus there's even a picture of your host in GHQ, useful for scaring off Jehovah's Witnesses and other unwanted door to door callers!